1. Devil in the Lion’s Den (2:43)
2. Slow Mama Slow (3:05)
3. The Jail House Blues (2:32)
4. Riverside Blues (2:37)
5. New Salty Dog (2:58)
6. Yellow Dog Blues (2:31)
7. Pork Chop Blues (2:39)
8. Dark Cloudy Blues (2:48)
9. Hesitation Blues (2:40)
10. It Won’t Be Long (2:40)
11. Do That Thing (2:33)
12. I Want to Be Like Jesus in My Heart (2:48)
13. Loving Lady Blues (2:42)
14. Midnight Special Blues (2:40)
15. Lead Me All the Way (2:42)
16. Graveyard Digger’s Blues (3:16)

Sam Collins - Guitar, Vocals

Known as "Crying" Sam Collins, after the eerie, falsetto quality of his voice, the artist in fact had many nicknames. A rather prolific recording artist, less than half of the 50 sides he cut saw release. Often the same tune would crop up on different labels necessitating a variety of pseudonyms (including "Bunny Carter," "Big Boy Woods," and "Salty Dog Sam"). Jailhouse Blues collects the bulk of the guitarist's commercially released output. Perhaps not as expressive or emotionally exhilarating as the "hard" Mississippi Delta singers, Collins' voice has an accessible, undeniable beauty. His guitar accompaniment proves a mastery of the basic slide and fingerpicking skills, delivered with a rough but pleasant style. These elements were combined with a compelling set of influences (intentional or otherwise) that came together in his music. For one, Collins probably picked up a lot from listening to recordings and performers from the area. His songs are filled with common, stock blues phrases delivered without a great degree of personal reconfiguring. "Hesitation Blues," a popular song from the period, is given a raw, swift rendition. The guitar line follows his singing, but he ends his phrases with deep, hard chords that contrast his high vocal. Other songs are approached in a similar manner. On "Midnight Special," the pace is almost rushed. Collins' vocal on both songs bears a striking resemblance to Skip James (at times, Collins actually sounds strikingly like a woman). The connection is made stronger by the fact that Collins' "Lead Me All the Way" has been performed by James as "Jesus Is a Mighty Good Leader." More unusual, however, are the strains of white music that run through Collins' style of Mississippi blues. On "It Won't Be Long," for instance, his characteristic vibrato and natural blues phrasing are less prominent, creating a bizarre mix of white and black delivery. ---Nathan Bush, Rovi

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01. The Jail House Blues
02. Devil In The Lion's Den
03. Yellow Dog Blues
04. Loving Lady Blues
05. Riverside Blues
06. Dark Cloudy Blues
07. Hesitation Blues
08. Pork Chop Blues
09. Midnight Special Blues
10. I Want To Be Like Jesus In My Heart
11. Lead Me All the Way
12. It Won't Be Long
13. Do That Thing
14. The Worried Man Blues
15. The Moanin' Blues
16. Lonesome Road Blues
17. New Salty Dog
18. Slow Mama Slow
19. Signifying Blues
20. I'm Still Sitting On Top Of The World
21. Graveyard Digger's Blues
22. My Road Is Rough And Rocky (How Long, How Long?)

Performer:
Sam Collins – guitar, vocals
John D. Fox - vocals

One of the earliest generation of blues performers, Collins developed his style in South Mississippi (as opposed to the Delta). His recording debut single ("The Jail House Blues," 1927) predated those of legendary Mississippians such as Charley Patton and Tommy Johnson and was advertised as "Crying Sam Collins and his Git-Fiddle." Collins did not become a major name in blues -- in fact his later records appeared under several different pseudonyms, most notably the name Jim Foster -- but his rural bottleneck guitar pieces were among the first to be compiled on LP when the country-blues reissue era was just beginning. Sam Charters wrote in The Bluesmen: "Although Collins was not one of the stylistic innovators within the Mississippi blues idiom, he was enough part of it that, in blues like 'Signifying Blues' and 'Slow Mama Slow,' he had some of the intensity of the Mississippi music at its most creative level."

Every track that Sam Collins recorded at the end of the '20s and early in the '30s is included on Document's Complete Recorded Works (1927-1931). Although the comprehensiveness of the set is a little intimidating for casual listeners -- they should stick with the better-sequenced Jailhouse Blues -- historians will find the collection invaluable. ---Thom Owens, Rovi

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